The first Training Ships to be provided especially for the purpose of training boys for service in the Royal navy were H.M.S. Implacable 1855 at Plymouth and H.M.S. Illustrious at Portsmouth they was later joined by H.M.S. Lion in 1871. Portsmouth had H.M.S. St. Vincent in 1862 Southampton had H.M.S. Eagle replaced in1862 by H.M.S. Boscawen At Chatham H.M.S. Wellesley Nevertheless, despite this growing number of Training Ships the Admiralty found it Difficult to fill them In 1865 St Vincent wanted 650 boys - they had 317 Wellesley wanted 224 - they had 205 Boscawen wanted 440 - they had 352 Implacable wanted 440 - they had 328
The Navy had been combing the same areas for recruits for nearly more than 300 years and the supply was now drying up as boys found work in other areas They decided therefore to extend their search for boys into the large towns, particularly in the North of England, at the same time they decided to attract more Scottish boys onto the Training Ships With this new recruitment drive the Admiralty decided to have another large ship like H.M.S. St. Vincent and in 1866 H.M.S. Ganges was moored in Falmouth with 180 boys who had been transferred from H.M.S. Wellesley,she was capable of training 500 despite her narrow deck
Training Ships were springing up everywhere. In 1865 the Akbar was set up on the Mersey as a reformatory ship together with the reformatory ship Clarence most of the boys being taken into the Merchant Navy H.M.S. Conway was also set up on the Mersey near Akbar taking in boys for Naval Service and Merchant ships
H.M.S. Britannia Devonport 1857. H.M.S. Caledonia in the forth 1891 for Scottish boys, and the Training Ship Black Prince for Irish boys at Queenstown Habour. Training Ships were being set up in coastal towns, rivers, and even inland where they were known as Land Ships or Concrete Ships. Many years later most of these training Ships moved on land.
Discipline was always very strict in the Navy as ships were very dangerous places to be with the risk of fire or being sunk in a gale. Naval Captains and Commanders had always based the discipline aboard their ships on their own experiences of early life in the Navy, together with instructions from the Admiralty, which were always enforced with Nelsons' blind eye'.
A whole industry had built up to supply these Training Ships with fuel, food, uniforms ect.One such firm was Messrs A.W. & E Lyne Established in 1868 which supplied canes and birchrods to Admiralty patterns and also birch twigs, as most Captains tried to save money by making up their own birches rods on board.
Birches were sold in 'dry weight' and were always soaked before use.
2 lbs of birch twigs would cost 1/- in the early 1900s. Canes were in five types the Navy using the 40" long and 1/2" thick type
Punishment frames were expensive and most Training Ships had their own ideas Tied over hammocks, rope ladders, gratings, heavy tables, wooden horses, hoisted on backs, over cannons, and later gym-horses, boys were caned birched, hit with rope ends, and tawsed, in order to train them, and keep discipline aboard these ships.
Food was good compared to what was available on land and in the big cities if you were poor, being on a Training Ship wearing Naval uniform was greatly prized by many poor boys, and despite the shortage, it was not easy to get aboard one of these ships.
You had to be above average strengh, even for the Reformatory Ships. For Royal Naval Training Ships you had to read and write, and be of good character. Even so the public, although supporting these ships ,did not want one on their doorstep.
In 1913 H.M.S. Stork was due to be moored at Hammersmith for London Naval Brigade boys. The West London Observer stated under headlines of 'Pig Headed Opposition', It is hard to believe that the plan to moor the Training Ship Stork near Hammersmith bridge has been met with such local opposition from the dwellers on the Mall, heaven knows why. No doubt they are always ready to shout for a strong Navy, but when it comes to mooring a brig in front of their windows, to train boys for the sea, they treat the boys with the same shuddering horror that they would a leper settlement. The selfishness of the British middle- class has never been more clearly shown
I was a boy on the Training Ship Arethusa in 1967 - we were beaten with a piece
of leather called ' herbert' by the second in command, and if we really did
something wrong you got awarded 'cuts' which involved being thrashed with a
cane while you were laying across the vaulting horse in the gym.
It was all designed to build character!! -ex Arathusa.
(Malcolm) I suppose the "cuts" are no longer an official form of punishment, as given out to boy seaman. I remember that as a young Junior Ordinary Seaman, 2nd class (even the heads held a rate senior to mine!), during initial training at HMS Raleigh in Sept 1964; the pipe "Junior hands to witness punishment" was made immediatly after a Thursday Pay Muster - Under the gentle guidance (sic) of a party of Leading Patrolmen the Junior (under 171/2years old) ratings were fallen in and marched to a small area behind the Regulating Office, on which had been placed a small sized desk.
After a short period of time a party appeared, escorting a young lad (in PT Kit) and in company of the Master at Arms, the 1st Lieutenant, a couple of other officers (it turned out that one of whom was a Doctor) and the ships Chaplain.
The MAA read out a punishment warrant that stated that the rating had been tried for stealing and the punishment awarded was to be six strokes of the cane.
The rating was laid across the desk and held in place by two other (and older) ratings, and then the MAA produced a cane, about three+ feet long - This item was inspected by the Doctor and declared not to be split or frayed upon which the MAA commenced to deliver six hefty blows to the lads buttocks, the timing for the delivery of the strokes was called out by one of the attending Regulating Petty Officers.
On completion of the task the rating was led away to the Cells and later (I am told) was "dismissed from the service". We where also told that had the cane drawn blood than a graturity of a two shillings and sixpense would have been awarded to the poor wretch.-
This was the one and only time I witnessed such a punishment during my umpteen years of RN service but I have been led to to believe that the practice of of awarding this form of punishment was quite common in the junior training establishments viz, HMS Ganges and HMS St Vincent-. ex-Raleigh
I'm surprised at this. I was ship's company in RALEIGH from June 62 to July 64, and the preparing of punishment warrants came under my job spec for a while. In that time I never saw a warrant awarded for caning. Mind you, the Joss was my next door neighbour on the married patch and I reckon he would have liked keel-hauling to still be on the books!
Corporal punishment was officially abolished in the RN in 1948 (which IIRC is about the same time that it was abolished in Borstal!), although I have heard that it was still administered in GANGES and ST. VINCENT (and there must be some GANGES boys lurking),untill 1967, and even later on warships outside British waters.. This always puzzled me since it was not included in the relevant BR (although picking 1lb of oakum a day while in DQ's was still on the books).
Boys training in the early fifties was indeed a great deal tougher than anywhere else in the RN. Climbing a 130 foot mast in gym kit at 0615 at ALL times of the year was not a lot of fun. My chum and I received 12 strokes of the birch for skylarking after lights out (2200). We were bent over the back of a chair and had to hold on to the front legs. A Regulating Petty Officer held your wrists while the Master at Arms administered the punishment.
Afterwards the other 600 lads wanted to see the wheals that stretched from hip to hip. At 2 Woodbines a time we did a roaring trade! I hope that all concerned had enough humanity to feel ashamed of themselves. After 12 months at St. Vincent I was posted to a frigate based at Rosyth and a run to the Dockyard Gate and back in the middle of winter at 0630 wearing sports kit certainly got the circulation going. Of course, the last one back had to go again.
After that the rest of my time was a doddle. A popular saying amongst ex-Boy
Seamen was if you didn't go to Ganges or St. Vincent you weren't tough, you
only smelt strong. 